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brought on by Cold War imperatives and concurrent
fears about the possible global expansion of
communism. However, it must be remembered
that virtually all of the administration in
Washington, military and civilian, supported the
military buildup. Public opinion supported the
overall conduct of the war by a wide margin.
However, the polls were divided about sending in
troops. Before the July decision, less than half of
those polled favored sending in more troops. The
rest were divided between uncertainty and opposition."
At this juncture, Americans were unsure
where this next escalation would take the country.
CU) Even before the first American soldiers
had set foot on Danang's beaches, General
Westmoreland had conceived a long-term strategy
to win the war. First, he would deploy the
American troops to protect the constellation of
American air bases and supply centers sprinkled
along the coast and around Saigon. At the same
time, he would commit U.S. troops to stop the
communist troops from taking the Central
Highlands and sweeping to the sea, thus cutting
the country in half. Finally, once he had accumulated
enough mobile forces and the bases were
secure, he would initiate a series of large-scale
search-and-destroy operations in which the vastly
superior mobility and firepower of American
forces could be brought down on the Viet Cong
and North Vietnamese forces that might stand
and fight.
CU) At the same time, the air war continued in
the North and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Itwas
believed that Rolling Thunder would ruin Hanoi's
system of supply and reinforcement, and thereby
help American forces in the South. Meanwhile, a
joint military and civilian pacification program
was started, mostly in the regions to the north of
the country controlled by the marines who had
favored the approach, which was supposed to
eradicate the communist presence. Under
American tutelage and supervision, Saigon could
regain control of the rural population and countryside
from the communists.
CU) All of these programs would take time to
show results. By the end of 1965, there were
184,000 American troops in South Vietnam. By
1966, the buildup reached 385,000 soldiers,
sailors, marines, and airmen. By the end of 1967,
about a half million Americans were in South
Vietnam. A million tons of supplies a month
rolled into South Vietnam to supply the gigantic
military machine that was running in high gear.
The war was on in earnest. The number of combat
formations of the United States and other
countries would fill the map of South Vietnam.
(U) Propping Up the Domino:
American Cryptology Enters a
Wider War
CU) As the American forces began to pour in,
so did the SIGINT elements needed to support
them. The various Service Cryptologic Agencies
committed units and personnel to man the field
stations and support the combat units there.
What had begun in 1961 as a small-scale advisory
and SIGIJ\TT support mission would, like the overall
intervention, grow into a large multiservice
and multination effort.
(U) The Army Security Agency
CU) The Army Security Agency had, by far, the
largest number of personnel committed to the
struggle, perhaps as much as a fifth of its entire
worldwide strength would be stationed in
Indochina. A number of ASAdirect support units
would arrive with their host Army formations.
The Army field stations in Vietnam would multiply
and expand. This would be especially true for
the site at Phu Bai.
(8//81) On 1 November 1964, the field station
at Phu Bai was redesignated the 8th Radio
Research Unit (later, Phu Bai was designated the
8th RRFS). The need to expand Phu Bai's opera-
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